Left Behind, but Not Forgotten
by One Esperandote
Summary: After saving the world once more, Gordon disappears with the G-Man. But what about the other survivers of City 17? What about Alyx?


**A/N: Wow, I just beat Half Life 2 and MAN is it one AWESOME game! It totally blew me away. Buuut, I thought the ending was too abrupt (but still good nonetheless), and so I was motivated to write this epilogue about what happens to the other heroes of City 17 after Gordon leaves. So here goes nothing!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Half Life, but oh if I did...**

**Left Behind, but Not Forgotten**

It never seemed to end; the blinding white light. The first thing she remembered was the sound of her breath, rapid and shallow, filling her ears, as if it were the only sound in the entire world. Gradually, the light faded at last, and Alyx lowered her arm from her face, looking around. The portal that had been atop the Citadel's highest tower was gone, destroyed, along with Dr. Breen. Squinting, she covered her eyes slightly with her hand again, shielding them from the sun, which was just now starting to set over the horizon of City 17. She vaguely remembered seeing the portal implode as Gordon fired one last energy orb at it with his zero-point gravity gun, and then the explosion.

'Oh, my God,' She thought to herself, laughing a little, 'we did it! We stopped Breen!'

It was then that she realized no one was around; Gordon was gone.

"Gordon?" She called out, her voice sounding rough and scratchy, "Gordon?"

She spun around, panic-stricken, as if he might be standing behind her, smiling at their victory; but he was not. Trying to suppress a sob, Alyx rubbed her head and dropped the Combine weapon in her hand, letting it fall to the ground with a clatter.

"GORDON!" she screamed, tears now freely flowing from her eyes, "Gordon where are you?"

She collapsed onto her knees and continued sobbing quietly, asking herself a million times over and over again if she could have done anything, anything to have kept him here. Behind her, Eli Vance and Judith Mossman appeared on the other side of the glass door, looking joyous. But upon seeing Alyx on the ground their expressions of rejoice turned to alarm.

"Judith, the door!" Eli said, pointing to the control console nearby. Mossman nodded and quickly used the Combine remote device she was carrying to hack into the console and open the door. Eli dashed out on the short platform over to Alyx and bent over next to her.

"Alyx honey," he said quietly, "What's the matter? Where's Gordon?"

"I don't know daddy," she sobbed, shaking her head, "he's gone…I don't know where he went."

Judith stepped onto the platform quietly, looking sympathetic.

"Shh shh," Eli muttered, taking Alyx into his arms and embracing her gently, "there there, it's alright baby…it's alright."

Alyx hugged him back and closed her eyes, letting the last few tears ebb down her cheeks. Mossman sighed, feeling terrible about aiding Dr. Breen in his attempt to imprison Eli, Alyx, and Gordon for the Combine forces.

'If only I hadn't had them captured and brought here,' she thought to herself remorsefully, folding her arms and gazing at the setting sun, 'Gordon would still be here.'

After a few more minutes, Eli and his daughter stood up.

"Let's go home," he said to Alyx, placing a hand on her shoulder and smiling, "We've got a city to rebuild."

Nodding, Alyx smiled weakly and whispered, "I love you, daddy."

"I love you too, baby."

Then together they walked back into the walls of the Citadel with Mossman, ready to return home. As they entered the control room for the last time and made their way to the elevator, Alyx looked back over her shoulder, and caught a faint glimpse of _him_, standing on the platform in his orange HEV suit, smiling at her. Alyx smiled back at him, and the apparition of Gordon slowly faded away.

'_I've lost an ally, a companion, a friend…and I don't know if I'll ever see him again. I pray to God that we met again Gordon… and I know that wherever you are, you'll fight just as hard for freedom…and for victory. For me, for my dad, and for the entire human race, we're counting on you…Gordon Freeman.'_

One last tear appeared at the corner of Alyx' eye as she walked on.

"Don't worry," Judith said to her comfortingly, placing a hand on her shoulder as they boarded the elevator, "We'll find him…somehow."

For the first time Alyx looked at Judith, and smiled at her.

"Yeah," she murmured as the elevator began to descend, a twinkle of hope in her eyes, "We will."

**The End**

* * *


End file.
